Organised by the Hong Kong Arts Centre (HKAC) and sponsored by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, the 19th ifva officially started. The theme of 19th ifva Awards is “Let’s get rolling”. The changeability of water represents the endless probability of creation, and the surge of wave marks the great passion of creators. The ifva Awards is calling for entry now!

The fervent kick-off
The 19th ifva has been kicked off on 13th August afternoon on the third floor of the Hong Kong Arts Centre. All of the guests showed up with summer dressing, including Felix Chong (Famous Hong Kong Film Director), Ricky Wong (Chairperson of Hong Kong Television Network Limited), Adam Wong (Director of The Way We Dance), Cherry Ngan and BabyJohn (Actors of The Way We Dance), Mable Ho (Head of Film Programmes of Leisure and Cultural Services Department), James Soutar (Governor of Pure Art Foundation), Philip Schaetz (Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Dorsett Hospitality International), H. M. Lai (Business Manager - Video/Cine Business of Shriro (H.K.) Ltd.), Connie Lam (Executive Director of Hong Kong Arts Centre) and Teresa Kwong (ifva Director). Despite the unstable weather outside, their refreshing look noted the summer feeling of the ceremony and echoed the theme of 19th ifva awards.
As an incubator for film and visual media in Asia, ifva unceasingly serves as a platform that actively encourages creative talents. This year ifva invited Zcratch, formed by past ifva Awards’ winners including Tsui Ka-hei, Tsui Ka-long, Bemy Chan and Ho ka-ho, to create a new series of promotion graphics and videos. Zcratch will keep on sharing stories through their creations.

Rolling in the Sea of Creation
To create and innovate is just like jumping into a big pool of water. The field of creation is a boundless ocean. The theme of 19th ifva Awards, “Let’s get rolling”, means to draw everyone into this ocean. ifva Awards has always been a floating platform for all swimmers in the sea, provide them chances in their drifting. This floating platform is not a destination, but a milestone of their way of creation. After drifting and training up, they can achieve greater success.

 

Recharge and Go on 
However, you may somehow feel alone and get lost in the sea of creation, or even get drowned by the wave of challenges. In this vast sea, ifva is more than a floating platform to take rest at, it also supports and encourages independent artists. Tsang Tsui-shan Jessey is an example. With the support of ifva, she produced Big Blue Lake which brought her the Best New Director Award at the 31st Hong Kong Film Awards and also the upcoming documentary Flowing Stories. ifva also encourages them to stride outside Hong Kong. The two Gold Awards winners of last edition, Kwan Tsz-wai Alan (Interactive Media Category) and Wong Ping (Animation Category) were both sponsored to go to Austria and France respectively to attend film and media art festival.

Moreover, ifva also produced a series of educational programmes. To support the endless succession of creativity, ifva holds the workshop “All About Us” every year. Various artists can teach and share their experiences and filmmaking skills to the South Asian youths. The films produced by the students will also be screened in the festival. 
Also, three talks “ifva+” will take place monthly from October, curated and hosted by Lam Kee-to who is a famous scriptwriter and animator in Hong Kong.
Competition is not the end of all creative endeavors. Encourage participants to continually develop new ideas and create new works, open up more opportunities and space for creativeness have always been ifva’s goals.

Annie Ho (Marketing & Development Director)    
Tel: 2824 5306 / 9481 8706     
E-mail: aho@hkac.org.hk